Original subtitles

Hello and welcome to Global Eye from the BBC World Service.

Each week, we bring you the best

of the World Service's investigative journalism

and unmissable reporting from BBC teams around the globe.

I am Joao Fellet, and this week we're in Brazil.

CROWD CHANTS

The country is deeply divided ahead of an election

that pits President Lula

against the son of his old rival, Jair Bolsonaro,

who is now serving a 27-year sentence

for plotting a coup after the last election -

and she has hundreds of thousands of followers, millions of views

and a powerful voice in Brazil's election campaign.

But the viral political pundit known as Dona Maria

is not all that she seems.

Also on the programme, as Bolsonaro hails El Salvador

as a model for how to be tough on gang violence,

we'll investigate the crackdown's disputed legacy.

The murder rate has plummeted, but at what cost?

This is the Liberdade Avenue, right in the heart of Sao Paulo,

and, every two years, it gets very colourful

because of all the political ads

that are put up here ahead of an election -

and the election we're having in October is a very big one.

Brazilians are basically choosing

between very different views for the country,

and this isn't important just for Brazilians -

Brazil is the biggest economy in Latin America,

it's one of the largest democracies in the world,

and it's home to the largest portion of the Amazon rainforest.

So what happens here can affect things well beyond the country,

from climate and trade

to the fight against international drug trafficking.

Lula da Silva!

Brazil's left-wing President Lula, who is running for re-election,

is leading in several polls.

Among his main proposals are expanding social programmes

and investing in public education and health care.

Bolsonaro!

The other leading candidate

is right-wing senator Flavio Bolsonaro,

the son of former President Jair Bolsonaro.

He says he will stay true

to his father's controversial legacy

and take a tough approach to crime.

The outcome could have major consequences

for the country and his father,

who is currently serving a 27-year sentence

for plotting the failed coup that saw his supporters

storm Brazil's government buildings in 2022.

Flavio Bolsonaro has promised to pardon his father

if he wins the election.

But one of the most talked-about figures

in this election campaign is not a candidate at all.

For over a year now,

millions of Brazilians have been sharing

and discussing the views of Dona Maria,

an elderly black woman who emerged from social media

and within weeks went viral -

but Dona Maria doesn't actually exist.

My colleague, Luiz Fernando Toledo, has been exploring

how an AI-generated avatar

became a prominent voice in Brazil's political debate,

and what that means for the election.

AI-generated Brazil's President Lula.

AI-generated former President Jair Bolsonaro,

AI-generated voter.

Deepfakes and AI-generated videos intended to drive votes

or attack political candidates are reaching millions of people

in this year's Brazilian elections.

Some social media profiles used to promote AI content

have millions of followers.

These are voters who will be choosing

the President of Brazil on October 4th.

I spent four months investigating this market

for AI-generated videos to find out what is driving it

and how it's influencing this year's general election.

This is Dona Maria.

On social media, she presents herself as an older woman

outraged by the government of Brazilian President Lula

and by ministers of Brazil's Supreme Court.

The creator behind the image, which is generated by AI,

is Uber driver Daniel Cristiano dos Santos.

Daniel says he drew inspiration from his grandmother

when creating the character.

One of his videos received more than eight million views.

At least 12 videos have surpassed one million views.

In the most popular video, Donna Maria angrily criticises Lula

for staying silent about foreign tariffs

and calls on Brazilians to protest.

Over the past year,

this AI character's average number of interactions per Instagram post

was similar to that of a few presidential candidates

fighting for the third place in the opinion polls.

I asked Daniel why he believes his videos attract so many views.

Daniel said he created the AI character

as a way to express his political views anonymously

and earn extra income.

I confirmed through court records that he did, in fact,

work as an Uber driver.

I didn't find any evidence that, at the time of my reporting,

he was receiving money from politicians.

The page's reach led Lula's Workers' Party and its allies

to ask Brazil's electoral court to suspend the character's account.

The main page was taken down a few weeks later.

Daniel did not give up. He began using another account,

which already had more than 100,000 followers,

and started selling courses on how to produce videos with AI.

He didn't tell me how much money,

but his course costs 150 reais, or £25,

and the last time I checked, it had around 70 active students.

This is 10,000 reais a month, or £1,400.

That is six times Brazil's minimum wage

and three times the average earnings of an Uber driver in Rio.

The electoral debate over the political use of AI

during the campaign grew

when presidential candidate Flavio Bolsonaro,

second in the opinion polls,

used an avatar of his father, former President Jair Bolsonaro,

at the launch of his campaign.

That same week, other avatars of the former president

began appearing on social media,

sometimes asking people to vote for his son,

sometimes saying Flavio should not become president.

The videos received tens of thousands of views and likes.

But how do they impact the elections?

Brazil's election is taking place against the backdrop

of a long-running battle with organised crime.

Gangs control territory in some of the country's biggest cities,

and public safety remains a critical issue for voters here.

Many people are looking beyond Brazil's borders,

to the country of El Salvador in Central America,

where violent crime has fallen dramatically.

For years, gangs terrorised the country

and it was known as one of the most dangerous places on earth.

Then a new president came and the numbers began to fall sharply.

But what lies behind the headlines,

and what has this transformation really cost?

For BBC Brazil, I travelled to El Salvador to investigate.

For decades, this community on the outskirts of El Salvador's capital

was one of the country's most violent places to live.

It was a stronghold of Barrio 18,

one of the criminal gangs that terrorised people

across the country.

The Barrio 18 and Mara Salvatrucha gangs

emerged on the streets of Los Angeles in the 1980s,

founded by young Salvadorans who had migrated to the United States.

In the 1990s, after a mass deportation of these men,

the groups made their way to El Salvador.

Right- and left-wing presidents took turns in power,

trying different ways to deal with the gangs.

Meanwhile, they grew stronger

and tightened their grip on the neighbourhoods.

In 2010, the war between the gangs reached a new level of brutality.

17 people were burned alive.

Anyone who tried to escape was shot.

By 2015, El Salvador had the highest homicide rate in the world,

setting the stage for a major shift in the country's politics.

Nayib Bukele entered politics in 2012 as a left-wing mayor

and later led the capital, San Salvador.

In 2019, after moving to a right-wing party,

he was elected President of El Salvador.

Early in his presidency,

Bukele clashed with the opposition

after lawmakers refused to approve a loan

for a plan to fight the gangs.

He responded by entering Congress alongside the military.

Months later, Bukele won the power struggle

when his political party secured more than two thirds of the seats

in the election to renew Congress.

Five justices were replaced by people aligned with Bukele.

With control of Congress and the judiciary,

he had a clear path to implement the security policy

that would come to define his government.

Initially set to last 30 days,

the state of exception granted sweeping powers to security forces.

It allowed police to arrest people without warrants

and hold them for long periods before formal charges are filed.

El Salvador became the country

with the highest incarceration rate in the world.

2.5% of Salvadoran adults are currently behind bars.

Four years later, the state of exception remains in effect,

with soldiers still stationed at the entrance to this community

in Soyapango and several other neighbourhoods.

This was supposed to be just a routine inspection...

...but the soldier finds something.

Two packages of marijuana and some cash.

The man is detained.

Later that day, the Armed Forces announced his arrest

and said he would face drug trafficking charges,

which can carry up to ten years in prison.

We could not reach his legal defence.

Here in Soyapango,

the support for the President's stance is widespread,

with many saying it has materially improved their lives.

In 2021, Bukele was re-elected President

with 85% of the vote.

In 2025, Congress changed the Constitution

to allow unlimited re-election.

President Bukele became a globally prominent figure.

So I knew him as a very young man. Now he's just a young man.

He's done a fantastic job.

Mr President, it's an honour to have you.

But how have these security policies

affected the daily lives of other Salvadorans,

and at what cost were they implemented?

We began looking for answers

by meeting with an evangelical pastor

who was interviewed by the BBC seven years ago.

Freed from custody into the arms of the church.

In 2019, the BBC visited Eben-Ezer Church

on the outskirts of San Salvador to learn

about this pastor's work with former gang members.

THEY SING

The church is in La Dina,

a neighbourhood many fear to even enter.

Here, former gangsters find sanctuary.

A rare chance to leave Barrio 18 and stay alive.

Under the state of exception,

El Salvador increased the prison sentence for gang membership

to as much as 45 years.

Since the courts consider gang membership an ongoing offence,

People who had already served time for other crimes

were arrested again.

PROTESTERS SHOUTING

These women are now the most visible face

to the opposition to Bukele.

"Margin of error" was the expression Bukele used

for innocent people arrested under the state of exception.

Of the roughly 9,000 people detained,

at least 8,000 have been released for lack of evidence,

according to the government -

but these families say many innocent people

are still behind bars.

In June 2025, human rights lawyer Ruth Lopez,

one of the best known critics of the Bukele government,

was arrested.

Prosecutors accused her of illicit enrichment.

Lopez denies the allegations

and says she is a political prisoner.

The NGO Cristosal, where she worked, closed its office in El Salvador,

mentioning risks to its staff.

Other activists and journalists have also left the country,

fearing retaliation.

We asked the government about the allegations of persecution,

but received no response.

CHEERING

Ana Mercedes Garcia Grande's son was taken by the police in 2022.

Four years after his arrest,

she says she has never seen her son again

and has received no news about him.

Since the pandemic, prisoners in El Salvador

have not been allowed to receive visitors.

The words of the detainees' mothers echo concerns

denounced by human rights organisations.

According to these groups,

more than 500 people detained under the state of exception

have died in state custody before standing trial.

We asked the government about these cases,

but received no response.

Two of Marta Elena Gonzalez's sons were arrested in 2022.

Jose Alfredo Gonzalez left behind a four-year-old daughter.

Over more than a month,

we contacted the government seeking an interview with President Bukele

or another official about the country's security policy.

After several follow-ups, we were told it wasn't possible

due to scheduling conflicts.

We also contacted Congress,

but were referred back to the presidency.

In 2025, El Salvador had the lowest homicide rate in the Americas,

but some question why the state of exception

has remained in place for more than four years,

even as the government says it has already defeated the gangs.

After so many decades of turmoil,

El Salvador hopes to finally leave its violent past behind...

...but, like a dormant volcano,

old tensions still lie beneath the surface,

and no-one knows if or when they might erupt again.

Five months ago, BBC Eye broadcast damning undercover footage

from a government hospital in Pakistan -

footage that showed blood-contaminated syringes

being reused on children,

some who were just babies.

The investigation revealed that more than 300 children

had been diagnosed with HIV

after receiving treatment at this hospital.

Reporter Ghazal Abbasi has an update on this story

and on the extraordinary impact that the BBC's journalism can have.

Syringes reused,

unqualified volunteers on the children's ward

and vials of blood-contaminated medicine

being injected into child after child.

In April 2026, BBC Eye revealed that in less than a year,

at least 331 children in the city of Taunsa were diagnosed with HIV

after receiving treatment at its government hospital.

The investigation ran across the BBC World Service

in English, in Urdu

and many other languages.

It was streamed on YouTube,

appeared on the BBC's website

and was watched by more than 11 million people

on TikTok and Instagram.

But, in Pakistan, the story was just beginning.

The first to pick up on the BBC's findings

were political commentators.

But soon, doctors, celebrities and sporting heroes were speaking out,

and Pakistan's TV news was not far behind.

The expose hit the evening bulletins and sparked primetime discussion

on one of the country's biggest TV channels.

This is criminal, to say the least.

Pakistan's press was calling this a public health emergency,

and outrage soon reached the country's parliament.

Days later, the Chief Minister of Punjab

announced a new disease prevention programme with a focus on HIV -

but that didn't stop the scrutiny.

The global fund who finance most of Pakistan's HIV programmes

announced it would visit the country to examine its handling of HIV.

The Prime Minister also intervened,

ordering a new national screening programme

for HIV and hepatitis across all government hospitals,

and confirmed that 60 new specialist HIV treatment centres

would be set up across the country.

By July, BBC Eye's investigation had changed the law.

From 2027, all syringes must auto-lock to prevent re-use,

and conventional syringes must not be made

or sold anywhere in Pakistan.

Thanks to the reach and credibility of the BBC World Service,

what began as a report on 331 children in rural Punjab

ignited a national conversation in Pakistan -

a conversation about public health and poor governance,

a conversation which changed the law

and which will surely save children's lives.

Thanks for joining me in Brazil.

Global Eye will be back next week. Goodbye.